A New York Times blogger questions whether an increasingly obese America is bringing in soldiers & Marines who are less fit than in the past. During my time in the infantry we always had one or two guys per platoon who had to be on “weight control”, and the non-combat arms units had a much higher percentage of overweight people than the infantry. These people in our platoons would not be considered obese by normal American standards, however, and were always able to “carry their own weight” once we got them into a combat situation. Most Vietnam veterans, my father included, will tell anyone who’ll listen that today’s military is much more capable than during their time. So I guess I agree and disagree at the same time. Having increasingly unhealthy young men and women entering the military definitely makes it much more difficult to get them into fighting shape though, and it’s very encouraging to see organizations like the US Marine Corps adopt CrossFit style training to improve fitness.